It was never conceivable that the affluent society in Cape Town, South Africa, would have to face water crisis. Residents enjoying the pomp and comfort of a regal life with in-house pools and sprinkling fountains in and around the metropolis have to now scramble for rationed water.
In Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur, fancied shopping malls were recently forced to close down public toilets and urge restaurants to use disposable plates and glasses ---- all due to water shortage.
In some parts of Mexico City, residents have been receiving water in their taps for only few hours a week. Water managers in Australia have already cautioned that their major cities could run out of water in a decade.
Similar scenarios were reported from several other places around the world stirring our thoughts that human beings are in threat of losing the most precious natural asset which is so much essential for our life and living.
Even being a deltaic country with abundance of rivers and water bodies, we in Bangladesh are not exempted from this threat. While the crisis of safe water is precipitating fast in urban areas, signs are evident in a wide expanse of rural coastal region being threatened with acute salinity.
The case in point for our country should deserve more attention than that in Cape Town or Mexico City of Kuala Lumpur or elsewhere. Our population is high and our density of population, particularly in urban areas, is one of the highest. Being a tropical and agro-based country, our demand for water is obviously higher than others. Therefore, it is imperative that we administer our water resource and needs in a very prudent way.
Though monsoon brings us big relief in filling our water bodies, we have not been able to develop proper water catchment system for use in the drier seasons. About thirty million people, according to World Health Organisation (WHO), are still exposed to arsenic contamination. Research organisations have indicated that there has been a twenty per cent increase in salinity in water during the last two decades.
The situation is alarming in the south western coastal region where water salinity is increasing fast, mainly due to sea level rise and dearth of downstream inflow water in the major rivers. Over sixty per cent of the people in these regions still use pond water for their living including drinking and cooking. Cultivation of crops is also being distorted with increased salinity. Growing salinity in the water in ponds will definitely trigger mass migration to urban areas in the north. Thus, the already water starved urban areas will have increased scarcity.
A World Bank study has revealed that the water scarcity situation would get worse as river and groundwater salinity increase dramatically due to the climate change impact. The report said there will be serious shortage of drinking water and that for irrigation too. Almost three million people in the southwest coastal areas would be affected.
Looking at the scenario at many places on earth and in view of our own state of water, there must be an alert for all--- water managers as well as consumers. We must dig all opportunities now to ensure proper conservation and consumption of this vital resource. The water woes may not be far away!
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
